Tag Team Tension
by Igniting Writing
Summary: When all of class 1A are put in pairs and given a surprise stealth test, Ochaco not only has to overcome the test itself. She also has to grapple with her feelings for a certain green-eyed teammate... Written for IzuOcha Week 2017, Day Two, on the theme of 'Tag Team'.


Trees. That was Ochaco's first impression of the training area; lots and lots of trees. She looked around in confusion, wondering if she and the other class 1A students had come to the wrong place – all twenty of them had reported to Mr Aizawa's class that morning only to be told that regular lessons that day were cancelled, in exchange for a surprise test. In spite of their questions Mr Aizawa had remained tight-lipped and the only instruction he'd given them was to report to one of the training grounds they'd never used before. It had turned out to be the clearing of a forest, right on the edge of the UA campus, but after a few minutes of standing around in silent anticipation nothing had happened.

Deku broke the silence. "So… this is definitely the place?"

From in front of him Tsuyu croaked in agreement. "Yep, the sign says Training Ground Five, like Mr Aizawa said. I don't see any sign of him though."

Sure enough their moody teacher was nowhere in sight, despite Ochaco craning her neck around to look for him. She stretched her arms above her head and let out an uneasy sigh, her stomach filled with butterflies. "I'd feel a bit more confident if I knew what sort of test this was. He didn't explain it to us at all, other than telling us to wear our hero outfits…"

"Perhaps it will be rescue training?" hazarded Iida, voice muffled from inside his helmet. "Saving people from a forest fire simulation, or something similar, would be an invigorating challenge."

"Nah, for rescues they'd just take us to the USJ," answered Kirishima. "I hope it's combat – I've been itching for a chance to do some sparring!" He flashed a toothy grin towards Bakugo, who responded with a scowl, and then turned to Deku. "What do you think, Midoriya?"

Deku bit his lip, deep in thought. "If it's a woodland setting, I'm guessing the test will be to do with the environment we're in. Maybe survival training, where we have to camp in the wilderness? Or something to do with the terrain? There are so many possibilities, probably to keep us guessing so that the test comes as a total surprise and catches us unaware…" Suddenly aware of how negative he'd sounded he waved his hands in from of him hastily. "B-But whatever it is, we've all worked so hard to get this far. I'm sure we can handle it."

Despite her nerves Ochaco managed a grin in response, thankful for his attempted encouragement. She opened her mouth to offer her own support, but before she could speak she was almost deafened by a shout from across the clearing.

"HEY, CLASS 1A KIDS! I HOPE YOU'RE ALL READY TO START YOUR SURPRISE TEST, OH YEEEAH!"

Ochaco jumped like she'd been electrocuted and Deku let out a yelp of shock. Hands over her ears to try and stop her head from ringing, she whirled around to see Present Mic, greeting them with a sheepish wave as several of the students glared at him. Alongside him was a bored looking Mr Aizawa, twisting an index finger in his left ear.

"That's enough waiting. Time to explain why you're here. To put it simply, the test is a stealth mission, where you'll be working in pairs. And it will go towards your final grade." The quirk erasing teacher's words caused an outbreak of muttering from the students and he held up his hand for silence. "Let me finish. I'll give you all an example of how the test works – our first pair will be Tenya Iida and Minoru Mineta, Team A."

Ochaco had to fight back a laugh – it was hard to tell which of the two boys looked more upset by the partner they'd been placed with. Iida frowned but at least managed to stay professional, snapping to attention, whilst the sour glare on Mineta's face made it look like he'd swallowed a whole lemon.

Mr Aizawa continued, ignoring their reactions. "The two of you will be tasked with holding onto these." He held up a pair of headbands, similar to the sort used in the cavalry battle from the Sports Festival. "To pass, you will need to keep these headbands on and reach the other side of the forest without being detected by the pair on Team B."

"That would be Yuuga Aoyama and Katsuki Bakugo," chimed in Present Mic.

This time Uraraka had to bite down on her lip to prevent her giggles from escaping. The incredulous 'you've got to be kidding me' look on Bakugo's face waspriceless as Aoyama raised a flamboyant hand. "Ah, but stealth seems like such a poor use of my talents, _non_? I am at my best when I am able to shine like _un diamant_!"

Mr Aizawa shook his head firmly. "Stealth can be as important for Team B as it is for Team A. Whilst Team A's objective is to reach the other side of the forest with their headbands, Team B's task is to locate Team A and snatch their headbands away."

That at least seemed to quell Bakugo's anger slightly. "Wait, so I get to ambush them?"

"That would be one strategy," Mr Aizawa replied neutrally. "You could also try and engage in a thorough search of the forest for them, or set up traps. The only rules are that Team A can't remove their headbands and that only one member of Team A needs to reach the other end of the forest – if you catch one team member but the other makes it through, Team A will be the winners. Oh, and there's a time restriction – if at least one member of Team A doesn't reach the other side of the forest within twenty minutes, they lose."

Bakugo grinned wolfishly. "I won't even need the time limit. I'm gonna hunt down Four Eyes and Grape Boy and blast them to bits."

Mineta flinched at Bakugo's threat but Iida brushed it off. "You are most welcome to try, Bakugo, but your efforts shall not succeed. Come, Mineta! Let us prepare for our test."

With that the teachers directed the two teams to their respective starting zones and a buzz of discussion broke out amongst the remaining students.

"Man, this test sounds pretty tough," Ochaco said, leaning against a tree trunk. "We've not really done much stealth training before. And since we don't know who we'll be partnered with, it's hard to come up with a plan."

Deku nodded. "We don't even know if we'll be on Team A or B. I guess this is about more than just testing our stealth – it's to see how fast we adapt to an unexpected team or objective. Plus some people have quirks that are more useful for stealth than others, so the teams probably won't be completely balanced. A few people are gonna be at a big disadvantage, like Kaminari or Todoroki."

Ochaco knotted her eyebrows, puzzled. "Todoroki? How do you mean? He's one of the strongest in the class."

Deku pondered for a second. "Well, he's got an incredibly powerful quirk, but it's not something he can use easily without giving away his location. Someone like Shoji might be better suited for this test, since he can use his quirk without revealing himself and can find where opposing teams are hiding."

Ochaco listened, slightly in awe. His mind seemed to jump ten steps ahead of hers – the way he could work out the likely strategies of just about anyone in the class was hugely impressive. "That makes sense, yeah," she said slowly. "Wouldn't Tsuyu or Sero also be good at this sort of test? They have quirks that let them move about easily in the treetops."

She grinned as Deku began pacing back and forth animatedly, his arms waving. "Exactly! Anything that gives you a mobility advantage would be really useful to have on a team. And Hagakure, Kouda and Yaoyorozu have quirks that would help them too – Hagakure's invisibility is an obvious one, but Kouda could use the animals in the forest to report on the location of the opposing team. They could be like his own team of spies! And Yaoyorozu would be able to create all sorts of materials, like camouflage paint, heat-vision goggles and –"

He ground to a halt as Ochaco burst out laughing, unable to contain her giggles. "Sorry, but it's funny! You're getting so excited over a test! Aren't you nervous at all?"

Deku rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. "Ah, w-well, yeah. But I've always liked seeing all the different ways quirks can be used. That's what makes the pro heroes so amazing – finding different ways to use their skills to help others. Ever since I was a kid it was something that inspired me to want to be a hero too."

It made Ochaco's insides shrivel up when she remembered that she'd previously described him as 'plain'. With his face lit up, eyes bright and skin flushed beneath his freckles, 'plain' could hardly be further from the truth. The honest, open enthusiasm he radiated when talking about heroes was just breath-taking.

Fighting to get a grip of her emotions, she tried to shift the topic back to the test. "What about you, Deku? Your quirk should be amazing for this, right?" She remembered how he had leapt from one building to another whilst training.

Deku went red-faced at the praise. "I – uh – I don't know about that. I mean, it's not exactly stealthy and if I broke any bones I'd end up slowing my teammate down." He paused for a moment, tugging at his gloves uncertainly. "To be honest, I'm worried I might get in the way…"

"No way! Anyone would be lucky to have you on their team!" she blurted out. "If I could pick a partner, I'd definitely choose you!"

Deku stood there slack-jawed for a second, shock written all over his face, before her mind caught up with her own outburst and her face flushed scarlet at the implications of what she'd said. "W-Wait, I didn't mean – I was only –"

Her embarrassment was spared as at that moment the two teachers returned to the clearing. "Ok, everyone be quiet and take a seat," drawled Mr Aizawa. "The first test will be starting shortly. When it's not your turn you'll be watching the others. Pay close attention."

Present Mic unveiled a folded up projector screen and after a bit of fiddling managed to set it up. To Ochaco's surprise, displayed on it was a view of several cameras, placed around the forest to monitor the teams. She could see Iida and Mineta standing ready on one of the cameras whilst Aoyama was preening on another, with Bakugo scowling in the background.

Satisfied that the cameras were all showing correctly, Present Mic took a deep breath and Ochaco covered her ears just in time. "TEAM A AND TEAM B! YOUR TIME STARTS… NOW!"

With that Bakugo and Aoyama leapt into action – or to be more accurate Bakugo blasted forward with an explosion, launching himself into the treetops and leaving Aoyama trailing in his wake. To Uraraka's surprise she noted that Iida and Mineta didn't split up, instead moving forward through the forest as a pair.

"How come they're staying together?" she whispered to Deku. "The rules Mr Aizawa mentioned said that only one person needs to get to the other side of the forest with their headband, so wouldn't it make more sense for Iida and Mineta to separate?"

Deku pulled out a notebook and began to write, so fast that his hand was a blur. "I thought so too, but they must have some sort of plan," he mumbled, as much to himself as Ochaco. "Maybe to use Iida's speed to make a dash for the finish line? But that would only work if they were already really close to the end zone – otherwise it would leave them open to attack, since he struggles to change direction…"

The first fifteen minutes of the test were tense to watch – it became obvious early on that Bakugo's strategy was to smoke Iida and Mineta out by zigzagging through the forest canopy and launching a near constant barrage of explosions whilst Aoyama stayed back to guard the exit area. Whilst it was clear Bakugo wasn't exactly focused on stealth and he was growing frustrated by Iida and Mineta using the forest as cover, Ochaco had to admit that his plan did seem to be working – Iida and Mineta were both making progress towards the end zone, but it was slow due to them needing to hide whenever Bakugo's patrol took him too near. Neither of them had been spotted, but both of them had also been unable to find an opportunity to use their quirks and she remembered Deku's earlier words. In this sort of test some class members would inherently have an advantage over others, depending on whether they were the hunters or the hunted.

"Come on, Iida," Ochaco murmured, hands balled into fists as Bakugo passed overhead yet again. "You can do it!"

Deku looked at the countdown clock on the corner of the projector screen. "But there's less than five minutes to go. At this rate Iida's gonna run out of time…"

As the clock ticked down to just one minute remaining, Iida finally made his move. Lifting Mineta onto his back in a piggyback, Iida fired the engines in his legs and bolted forward like a streak of silver lightning, Mineta clinging on for dear life.

"Ooh, that's his Recipro Burst thingy!" shouted Ochaco, hopping in place with excitement. "He's so fast!"

But she could see what Deku meant with his earlier comment – by running at top speed it had given their position away to Bakugo, who lunged forward to stop them. Ochaco winced in expectation of the blow.

But to her amazement, Bakugo's explosion was repelled by Iida's costume – he stumbled and nearly tripped, but just about managed to keep his footing and kept running. Bakugo looked visibly shocked and yelled to Aoyama to intercept, but the sparkly teen hesitated just for a split second and that was all the time Iida needed to race past him.

Deku and Ochaco both cheered simultaneously as Present Mic threw up his hand. "THE WINNERS ARE TEAM A, MINORU MINETA AND TENYA IIDA!"

Bakugo was fuming and immediately began berating Aoyama for not reacting fast enough, but it was too late to make any difference. Watching from the forest clearing the rest of the class erupted with activity, everyone discussing how Iida and Mineta had managed to pull off the win.

"How come Bakugo couldn't blast him away?" called out Kirishima, puzzlement lining his face. "Iida's armour isn't that tough, is it?"

"Maybe Bakugo was holding back?" mused Kaminari. "Then again, this is Bakugo we're talking about. I don't think that guy knows the meaning of the word 'restraint'."

Deku, who had been studying the screen avidly as it showed a replay of Iida's burst of speed, suddenly jolted forward. "Look at Iida's costume!"

Ochaco squinted her eyes – the camera footage was a little grainy and it was hard to get a good view with how fast Iida was moving, but as she looked closer she could see something looked a little odd. Iida's armour seemed strangely… lumpy. "Oh, I see it now. It's covered in those purple ball things Mineta uses. But why?"

Deku turned to her in excitement. "Iida used them like shock absorbers! The balls Mineta uses are springy as well as sticky – by covering his suit with them, Iida was able to nullify some of the force of Kacchan's attack. That's why he didn't get pushed back by the explosion!"

Ochaco listened, wide-eyed. "That's so cool! Do you think he was planning it the whole time?"

"Indeed I was, Uraraka." Both Deku and Ochaco whirled around as Iida emerged from the forest with a smile, helmet removed and a grumbling Mineta walking alongside him.

"I still think it's not fair how you hogged all the glory," the shorter boy complained. "It was only because of my quirk that your plan worked…" He slouched off, still complaining under his breath about being upstaged and not being noticed by girls. Bakugo and Aoyama followed behind, with Bakugo still glaring daggers at the twinkling hero-in-training.

Ochaco ran over to Iida, beaming at his victory. "That was incredible! I thought you might run out of time, but that Recipro Burst was amazing."

Deku nodded fervently. "You've always been super-fast in a straight line, but it looked like you were able to manage changing direction too. And that plan to use the sticky balls was a great idea."

Iida puffed out his chest with pride. "Thank you. It was a risky strategy, as the stickiness would have pinned me to the floor if I had fallen, but fortunately it proved to be the right decision. Though I must admit, now the test is over I'm not exactly sure of the best way to remove them." He prodded at one of the purple orbs, but it refused to budge and Iida sighed in defeat.

Ochaco let out a burst of laughter at her friend's predicament, but before she could say anything further Mr Aizawa's voice called them back. "I'll provide more detailed feedback once everyone has completed the training, but for now it's time to move onto our next pairings. Team A will be Denki Kaminari and Mezo Shoji, versus Mina Ashido and Toru Hagakure on Team B."

Mina pumped her fist in the air with a grin. "Easy win! It'll be lights out for Lightning Dolt."

"Hey!" Kaminari spluttered indignantly.

Hagakure nodded eagerly – or at least Ochaco assumed she nodded – and the two teams made their way towards their starting areas.

Iida hummed thoughtfully. "An intriguing match up. They certainly seem confident, but do you think Mina and Hagakure will succeed?"

"I hope so, but it'll be tough," she said reluctantly. "They can't touch Kaminari without getting shocked and Shoji's the best in the class at tracking and finding hidden enemies. Deku, do you think they have a chance?"

Deku flicked through his notebook and came to the page he'd made on Shoji. "I think they might be able to pull it off. Shoji's senses are really impressive, but from seeing him in other tests I don't think they work over long distances – when he creates those extra ears, he has to be fairly close to listen. I make his top range a few hundred metres, so if Ashido can keep him occupied with her acid Hagakure might be able to catch them off guard."

Ochaco felt her stomach tie itself in knots and dropped her gaze briefly. There it was again. Even when he was talking about her classmates he could still sound so inspirational and she silently willed the blush away from her face, concentrating instead on the projector screen as the two teams got into position.

As the second round of testing started, Ochaco saw that Deku's analysis was spot on. Shoji could scout ahead short distances, but not through the whole forest, and when Mina used her acid to make some of the forest floor into a mini-swamp Kaminari and Shoji were forced to take a diversion. It was there that Hagakure was waiting to ambush them – with Shoji distracted by avoiding the swamp she was able to shove him back, knocking him into Kaminari. The electricity user accidentally discharged and poor Shoji was fried. With Kaminari's brain short-circuited and Shoji left twitching, Ochaco cheered out loud as her friends emerged with the headbands, Mina doing a victory dance for good measure.

The third round of testing proved to be another quick match, pitting Koda and Ojiro on Team A against Team B's Tsuyu and Todoroki. Deku had wondered how Todoroki would use his quirk, but had been impressed to see how Todoroki used his flames to create a smokescreen. The thick black cloud proved to be doubly useful, not only helping obscure himself and Tsuyu but also scaring away the birds that Koda tried to call, and in the thick smoke Tsuyu was able to drop in from the treetops and snatch Ojiro's headband before he knew what had hit him.

As the fourth round began, featuring Sero and Sato on Team A versus Yaoyorozu and Kirishima on Team B, Uraraka felt an urgent restless buzzing through her. She was up next and although she was nervous, she was also desperate to make a good impression. Her quirk meant that combat exercises were never going to be her strongest area, so it was this sort of task she had to excel in if she had any chance of standing out. Standing out like Deku.

And a thought hit her like a bolt from the blue. _'Deku still hasn't had his turn yet either. That means I'll either be on his team… or he'll be my opponent.'_

She wasn't sure which she dreaded more. Competing against him was daunting – with all the obstacles he'd overcome, how could she even compare with him, never mind win? But being on the same side as him… Would it be like the Sports Festival's cavalry battle all over again? Relying on his power to help her through?

"Uraraka, are you ok?"

She was jolted from her thoughts by Deku's concerned words and put up a false smile. "Oh, sorry, must have zoned out for a second. Must be our turn soon, right? I can't wait!"

Deku looked unconvinced by her answer but thankfully she was spared any further questions as Present Mic's voice boomed out. "TIME'S UP! SINCE TEAM A FAILED TO REACH THE END ZONE, EIJIRO KIRISHIMA AND MOMO YAOYOROZU WIN!"

Iida nodded sagely. "A good strategy. Yaoyorozu realised that simply stalling for time by setting traps around the end zone would be the most certain means of victory. Coupled with Kirishima's hardening quirk slicing through Sero's tape whenever Team A got too close, their plan was simple but effective."

"Uh, yeah. You said it, Iida." Ochaco squirmed, embarrassed that she had spent the majority of the last test lost in her own thoughts.

Mr Aizawa stepped back to the front of the class and cleared his throat. "Onto the final round of testing. There are only four of you left – Izuku Midoriya, Fumikage Tokoyami, Jiro Kyoka and Ochaco Uraraka."

Ochaco stiffened at the sound of her name and tried not to give away how nervous she was feeling as Jiro spoke up. "So, who are we paired with?"

"You will be on Team B, with Fumikage. And on Team A are Midoriya and Uraraka."

The first sensation Ochaco felt at hearing the teams was pure, unfiltered relief – swiftly followed by a wave of guilt. She should be focusing on how they could win as a pair, not second guessing herself at every step and turning to Deku for support.

She wrenched her thoughts back to the task at hand as Mr Aizawa handed her and Deku a headband each. "Put these on and get in position. You have five minutes to get ready."

Ochaco took a deep breath and walked towards the start zone. _'Focus,'_ she told herself grimly. _'No mistakes. No regrets. Just go out there and win.'_

Deku remained quiet as they walked through the forest. She noticed his brow was furrowed, almost like it was when he began one of his muttering sprees.

As they came to the marked out starting zone, she puffed out her cheeks and did a few warm up stretches. "It's nice to be teamed up with someone you know, huh?" she said, trying to break down some of the tension and fill her voice with a confidence she didn't feel.

Deku opened his mouth and seemed to be wrestling with something before he finally blurted it out. "Uraraka, you – you know you can talk to me, right?"

The question caught her so off guard that her smile slipped. "I – where did that come from?"

Deku shuffled his feet nervously. "I – uh – I wanted to say that you don't have to be so hard on yourself. When you get that intense look in your eyes, you're… you're so determined and fierce and _strong_. You work so hard and I just – I want you to know that you're amazing and even if you doubt yourself you don't have to go it alone. And…" Deku hesitated as his face heated up, but he continued in a subdued voice, "It's like you said before. There's no-one I'd rather have on my side than you."

Ochaco opened her mouth wordlessly, stunned, and it took her a couple of seconds to regain her composure. She wanted nothing more than to hug him and show just how much his words meant to her, but managed to limit herself to the biggest, brightest smile she could muster. "Thank you, Deku. That… That really means a lot to me."

Deku laughed awkwardly. "You don't need to thank me. It's the truth."

Ochaco shook her head. "No, seriously, _thank you_. I wasn't thinking straight and that really helped. _You_ really helped." She punched her palm for emphasis at looked at him, face set with conviction. "Now, we need to come up with a plan. We've got a test to win!"

Deku's didn't hide his relief at seeing her back to her usual self. "Yeah, you're right. First of all, we need to work out what Tokoyami and Jiro will most likely do."

Ochaco tugged at her headband in thought. "Well since they're on Team B they'll need to prevent either of us from reaching the end zone. Since neither of them are super-fast they'll probably stay together, right?"

"That would make sense," Deku agreed. "If I had to guess, I think they'll guard the end zone. Jiro will be positioned slightly ahead, so that she can direct her sound attacks at us without Tokoyami being in the line of fire. She can also potentially use her quirk to eavesdrop on us, as it gives her enhanced hearing, and at close range she can even detect heartbeats."

"You know all that just from watching her in class?" Ochaco asked, raising her eyebrows. "Geez, how detailed are your notes?"

Deku looked sheepish. "Um, some of it is speculation, but I think I've got a pretty good idea of what everyone can do. It's kinda embarrassing talking about it though…"

"Hey, that's a good thing," Ochaco grinned. "Being a hero nerd has its advantages!" She nudged Deku teasingly and he went red, somehow managing to look both bashful and a tiny bit pleased at the same time.

"Ah, erm, thanks," he fumbled, drawing an amused laugh from her. "I know Tokoyami's quirk a bit better, since I've teamed up with him before and seen him fight at the Sports Festival. If I was him, I would stay at the back, blocking the end zone like a last line of defence. That way he'll be able to use Dark Shadow as a second pair of eyes, so that he won't have any blind spots. As a pair, he and Jiro have really complimentary quirks."

"So we won't be able to sneak up on them easily then," Ochaco frowned. "And if we go with a full attack we'll give away our position. Would a pincer attack work? If you came from the left and I came from the right?"

Deku pondered the suggestion. "I don't know. Jiro's ear jacks can pick up vibrations from long distances, so she would sense us both coming just from our footsteps."

"Wait… vibrations…" The cogs in Ochaco's brain began to turn and an idea formed in her head. "Deku, that's it! I think I know how to win!"

Before she could explain, the voice of Present Mic penetrated her eardrums. "TEAM A AND TEAM B, FOR THE FINAL TIME TODAY, BEGIN!"

Shaking her head to try and stop her ears from buzzing, she scowled in frustration. She remembered Deku's theory from earlier – now that the test had started, Jiro could be listening. Speaking her plan aloud it might give away the game and her idea relied so heavily on the element of surprise that she couldn't risk it.

She looked to Deku, who gazed back at her and smiled encouragingly, and her eyes widened as she realised that he was putting his faith in her. He didn't even know what she had planned, and knowing him he probably had a dozen different scenarios mapped out in his head, but he trusted her. It was scary and empowering all at the same time – for so long she'd looked to Deku's example whenever she was in trouble, but now he was relying on her and she refused to let him down.

Giving him a thumbs up, she pointed forwards and then held a finger to her lips, miming for them both to be quiet. He nodded once to show he understood and together they walked carefully through the undergrowth, trying to create as little noise as possible whilst still moving quickly.

Trudging through the forest floor, the first several minutes of the test went by in a flash. Outside of the noises of the woodland creatures it was almost completely silent. It seemed that Deku was right that Jiro and Tokoyami had chosen to stay back rather than try and hunt them down, but the quietness was unnerving. She kept jerking her head around at the slightest noise, half-expecting Tokoyami to leap down from the trees like a ninja.

It was when they were only a few hundred metres from the end zone that Ochaco felt it – a tiny, almost imperceptible change in the air pressure. It took her a split second to work out what it was and her face tightened with alarm. Instinctively she grabbed at Deku and flung herself to the ground.

Milliseconds later a wall of solid air passed over both of their heads with a noise like cannon fire. On the forest floor Ochaco braced herself – even under her helmet she could feel the power of the attack. If they'd been standing it would have knocked them both flying.

Realising that the sonic blast must have been caused by Jiro, she picked herself up and offered Deku a hand. Together they crept as close as they dared towards the source of the blast, hiding behind a large fern, and spotted two things. The end zone, marked out in red tape. And their opponents, lying in wait.

Dimly Ochaco heard Jiro's voice, sighing in annoyance. "Still no sign of them. I'm sure I felt their footsteps vibrating but I must have missed. Have you or Dark Shadow spotted them yet?"

She couldn't quite make out Tokoyami's reply, but it must have been negative as Jiro shook her head. "No, they'll definitely be here. The end zone isn't that big – for them to reach it, they'll have to get past us. Just keep a sharp eye out."

Ochaco turned to Deku, heart pounding with adrenaline. It was time to put her plan into action. In slow, deliberate movements she motioned where each of them would need to be positioned and what they would each need to do. Deku looked puzzled at first, then downright apprehensive, but nodded his acceptance. He flashed her a shaky grin as he readied himself and Ochaco tried to return it, even though her face was taut with nerves.

She counted down on her fingers. Five… Four… Three… Two… One…

On the count of zero Deku exploded into action. Clenching his hand into a fist, he slammed it against the base of a sturdy-looking tree with a shout of, "Detroit Smash!"

The tree flexed briefly, but then the force of the punch sent a seismic shock through it and ripped it from its roots. Unbalanced, the tree groaned and came crashing down towards Jiro, who scrambled backwards to avoid it falling on top of her.

"It's Midoriya!" she shouted, eyes scanning the forest. "He's here! Tokoaymi, don't let him get near the end zone!"

"Detroit Smash!"

Another tree was uprooted by the force of his blow and Jiro dodged to the side to avoid it crushing her. Before she could get a lock on where he was another tree collapsed, but this time she was expecting it and used her earphone jacks to blast it away.

"You'll have to do better than that," she called out, panting for breath.

Deku responded with another falling tree trunk, the biggest one yet, and the _thump_ as it landed made the ground shake.

From her vantage point, high in the branches of one of the trees Deku had avoided, Ochaco waited for the right moment. Deku was playing his part perfectly – with his unorthodox deforestation distracting Jiro, she just needed Tokoyami to move away from the end zone. _'Come on,'_ she thought to herself, teeth gritted. _'Go and help Jiro. I only need an opening.'_

She could see Tokoyami hesitating, torn between protecting the taped off area and helping his teammate. He took a step towards Jiro. And another.

' _That's it… one final step…'_

As Tokoyami inched forward a third time, Ochaco clasped her hands together and activated her quirk. Floating slowly into the air with practiced precision, she reached for the trunk of the tree, placed her feet against it and pushed with her soles. Now she was gliding noiselessly through the open air towards the end zone. Her guts clenched painfully at the weightless sensation, but Ochaco powered through the discomfort. She was almost there. Once she was above the end zone, all she needed to do was release her zero gravity and land to give herself and Deku the win.

But beneath her she saw Tokoyami pause, studying the ground, and she felt a flash of horror. _'Oh no! He's spotted my shadow – because I'm overhead I'm blocking out the sun!'_

Tokoyami looked up and cried out in alarm as he saw how close to the finish line she was. "Dark Shadow, go!"

Tokoyami's bird-like partner whooshed upwards, claws outstretched. Thinking quickly Ochaco cancelled her quirk, aiming to drop and sprint the last couple of metres by foot, but it was too late. She managed to protect her headband from being stolen, but Dark Shadow grabbed her by the arm with a caw of triumph and threw her down towards the ground.

She landed with a _thud_ on top of one of the trees Deku had felled. She heard him call her name and dash towards her, but the impact drove all the air from her lungs. She was going to have bruises all down her side tomorrow.

Ignoring her injuries she clambered back to her feet. Her ankle flared with a jolt of pain and she let out a hiss – she suspected she'd sprained it upon landing – but hobbled forward, surveying the situation.

It didn't look good. Tokoyami had moved up alongside Jiro and the two of them were blocking her path. Frantically Ochaco tried to think of another path past them. Could she and Deku fight? No, she could barely put any weight on her ankle and their exposed headbands would just be plucked from their heads if they tried to brawl. Stealth was out of the question too now that both she and Deku were out in the open. And as she checked her watch she saw that they only had a minute left. Hopelessness welled up inside the pit of her stomach. How could they possibly win?

And then she caught Deku's eye, full of concern and determination, and something blazed inside of her. She'd come so close and Deku had placed his trust in her – she was _not_ going to lose here.

Reaching down she pressed her fingertips against the fallen tree she'd landed on and dived to the side. "Deku, swing!"

It was like he read her mind. Before she even hit the ground he was moving and his speed was indescribable. She didn't know how a person could even move so fast – it was like a blur of green fireworks. In less than a second he had picked up the weightless tree trunk, hefted it behind him and swung it like a baseball bat right into Tokoyami and Kyoka. Both of them didn't even have time to raise their hands in defence – one second they were standing there, the next they'd been sent sprawling. Even with the tree being weightless it still packed a punch – Tokoyami landed with a squawk in the treetops and Jiro was sent tumbling head over heels, groaning with pain.

Ochaco let out an awestruck shout of encouragement, expecting Deku to run forward to the end zone – after all, only one of them needed to cross the line to pass. What she didn't expect was for Deku to turn to her, gently pick her up in his arms, and jog the remaining distance to the finish line. Instantly Ochaco's face went flamingo pink and she stumbled over protestations that she was fine and that he should just go on without her, but he ignored her objections, instead striding purposefully to the end zone. Realising that her complaints were getting her nowhere Ochaco buried her face in her hands and tried not to think too much about how strong his arms and torso were and how she honestly didn't mind this at all.

As they crossed the line Present Mic let out a booming cheer. "WHAT AN INTENSE FINALE! TEAM A, IZUKU MIDORIYA AND OCHACO URARAKA, ARE THE WINNERS!"

Deku let out a sigh of relief and looked down at her, worried. "Uraraka, are you ok? I saw landed on your ankle – do you think you can stand?"

Face still flushed, she nodded shakily. "I think so. Can you – umm – can you let me down?"

In spite of her embarrassment she had to suppress her giggles as Deku's face somehow managed to go white and red at the same time, making him look like a raspberry sundae. "Uwaah, I'm so sorry! I just couldn't leave you behind and I saw that you couldn't run yourself and your foot looked really painful and –"

"I-It's ok," she interrupted gingerly. "Thanks." She stepped down from his arms, trying not to show how much she missed their warmth, and sat on the forest floor. Her ankle was still throbbing, but at least she was able to still move it, albeit painfully.

Deku squatted down to join her and surveyed the devastation they'd left in their wake. "I hope I didn't go overboard on Jiro and Tokoyami. I didn't mean to hit them that hard…"

"They'll be fine," Ochaco assured him. "But wow, what a hit! You were like, wham!" She mimed an exaggerated baseball player's swing and laughed at his modest reaction, twiddling his fingers.

He pulled off his mask and looked at her. "Thank you. But I can't take the credit. The truth is, I got the idea from you."

Ochaco's heart missed a beat at the serious, sincere look in his eyes. "M-Me?" she repeated. "But I didn't do anything. My plan failed when Tokoyami spotted me…"

"That doesn't matter," Deku insisted. "Even when it didn't go to plan, you adapted. If you hadn't made the tree weightless I would never have been able to swing it fast enough. And like I said, it was your idea originally. Back when we first teamed up, remember? It was us two against Iida and Bakugo. You used the pillar to hit the debris at Iida."

Ochaco sat there mute, not trusting her voice. All the times she had turned to his example for inspiration, all the times she'd thought to herself _'What would Deku do?'_ … Hearing him say the same was overwhelming.

He continued quietly, red faced but not looking away. "We only passed today because of you. It was your plan. So please don't doubt yourself, Uraraka. You were amazing."

Ochaco's bottom lip quivered and as she took a trembling breath something snapped inside her. Holding back her emotions around Deku for so long had built up a dam of longing and unspoken feeling; his words had released the floodgates.

Ignoring her ankle she pulled him into a rib-cracking hug, trying not to let her tears spill. He let out a squeak of surprise and went stiff, but hesitantly put his arms around her. "U-Uraraka?! What are you –"

" _We_ were amazing." Despite the wellspring of emotions pouring out of her, she spoke the words with absolute certainty. "Working together with you, I feel like I can do anything. And knowing that you're there to support me – it means the world to me. It makes me want to be better, to keep growing, to keep becoming a stronger person."

She still had so much left unsaid, but she wasn't quite ready for that so she released him from her grip. Deku sat stunned for a second, before a small, heartfelt smile made its way to his lips. "Yeah. Let's keep inspiring each other. To be the best heroes."

Ochaco gave a smile of her own. "And the best team."


End file.
